Inquirer City Hall Staff

Because of the Good Friday holiday that closed municipal buildings last week, the city is accepting first level review forms dropped off today at four pre-determined locations.

The review is for property owners who believe the value the city placed on their property after a recent citywide reassessment is wrong. The review asks the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) to take another look.

The deadline to file was March 31. Most property owners likely mailed in their forms, which had to be postmarked before the deadline. But the city also allowed residents to drop off their forms at City Hall and three other locations, which were closed on Friday.

Forms dropped off at those locations will be accepted today. The locations are:

• 311 Walk-In Center in Room 167 at City Hall

• Municipal Services Building Concourse-level, 1401 JFK Blvd.

• North Philadelphia Municipal Services Center at 2761 N. 22nd St.

• Northeast Municipal Services Center at 9239 (rear) Roosevelt Blvd.

Property owners also can appeal their assessments to the Board of Revision of Taxes, but the deadline for that appeal isn’t until Oct. 7.

The number of first level reviews filed could be viewed as a barometer of the reassessment’s accuracy, which has been questioned by some homeowners and politicians.

As of Thursday, OPA had received 21,600 requests for review, out of 579,000 parcels. Chief Assessor Richie McKeithen said last week that he anticipated as many as 30,000 reviews, many arriving near the deadline.

It could take several days for OPA to determine a final number of reviews, as more arrive in the mail this week. Property owners who received their assessments late also have 30 days from the receipt of their assessment to file. Those owners could have several more weeks to send in their forms.

A coalition of 22 community groups, many of them representing neighborhoods facing property tax increases this year, asked Mayor Nutter to extend the deadline, even though the city is required by law to certify the reassessment values by March 31. The administration rebutted that request.

Stephen Huntington, who convened The Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers, also said there was “great confusion” about how the first level reviews are going to be conducted.

“We’re not aware of a written explanation of the topics to be discusses at the hearings,” Huntington said in a letter to Nutter. “We ask that one be published today.”